How to Sleep Better When You Travel

When you travel, it is hard to be productive for work - or really enjoy a vacation - when sleep deprivation is screaming in your head.

I know.

Because I have struggled with sleep, too.

So, I’ve tried several sleep tools and supplements and now have a combination that helps me.

Try these. Mix them with your own ideas.

And get a great night’s sleep again!

My Screen-Zombie-Zone Story

I’m partnering with a local retreat center to host a Screen Free Week Kickoff Event. As we have been getting ready for this, we decided to ask each other some questions.

It brought up some “Well, this is embarrassing” moments … as well as remembering some times I’ve managed my screen-time well and motivated me to get back to it.

If you live in the middle Tennessee area, I’d love to have you join me on April 28, Sunday afternoon, to learn how to do your unique Screen Free week - plus walk, hike, and have a lot of fun together. (If you don’t live around middle TN, check out the Screen Free week website for events in your area.)

Here’s my “oops” story … (and a link to register for our Connect More: Screen-Free Kick off Event) - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/connect-more-a-kickoff-to-screen-free-week-tickets-59946971004

Why self-care is important: one client's story

A picture is worth a thousand words.

So, since this is a picture plus words, how many does that equal?

Seriously, this is a powerful visual I’ve used to illustrate the impact of self-care.

5 Tips (and Products) to Create Your Spa Weekend

You feel like you need to get away from it all.  You want to spend a week at a spa, refreshing your body and mind.  But arranging life to do that?  Maybe later, you say. 

Don't wait until life hands you a week to take care of yourself.  Create a weekend - or at least a day - for an in-town spa retreat.

1.  ENVIRONMENT

A spa setting is typically clean and quiet, with a lot of nature.  So plan to get the house clean before the weekend, perhaps even hiring a residential cleaning company (or your teenagers, if they have a clean-streak).  This is a great time to purchase new bath towels, if needed.  Or break out the plush bath towels you saved for guests.

Quiet?  What a great excuse to have the younger kids visit the grandparents overnight.  The teens may stay with friends, or perhaps they want to join you in a spa-weekend.

Nature? Inside the house, add fresh flower arrangements in each room.  Outside the house, enjoy a nearby park for journaling or walking.  Another way to add nature is candles, especially beeswax candles.  The purest I have found is www.nashvillewaxco.com.  The way the wax is processed makes a difference in what you breathe.

If these ideas don't work...there's always a nice hotel or bed-and-breakfast option.

2.  MENTAL SPACE

One of the joys of a spa is letting your mental-to-do list take a break.  That is another reason to have the house cleaned ahead of time.  Plan on Thursday and Friday evenings to have the laundry, grocery shopping, and any other weekend chores already complete.  

If cooking is a relaxing pleasure, you can leave that for your weekend spa.  If cooking is a chore, then arrange catering.  (If you live in the Nashville area, check out Linda's Perfect Platters - she cooks from scratch whatever you'd like.  You can find her company on Facebook.)

Turn on your "out-of-office" messages and leave your calendar behind.  Don't check your social media.  Unplug.  Scary?  Maybe.  But I promise you will be grateful by Sunday night.

3.  PLEASURABLE, HEALTHY FOOD

Speaking of cooking, spa food is delicious and good-for-you.  Focus your menus around fresh vegetables with lean poultry and fish.  Add lots of cucumber-lemon water.  Perhaps visit a farmers market mid-week to pick up your in-season vegetables.  

If you do not want to cook during the weekend, pre-cook your meats and enjoy as leftovers on salads.

4.  LEARN A LITTLE

An occasional class is nice at a spa, so include a video or a book on a self-care topic.  If you are wanting to learn about exercise, read LePersonal Coach by Valerie Orsoni.  If eating and living healthy are your desire, then The Self Compassion Diet by Jean Fain or any book of the French Women Don't Get Fat series.  (Of course, this would be a great weekend to start Go Forward: 28 Days to Eat, Move, and Enjoy Life God's Way.)

Don't forget that your best expert on you is, well, you.  So journal each day; see what insights are revealed.

5.  ACTIVITIES TO BOOK

Here we get to the essence of a spa.  A spa should include novelty and familiarity.  

• Hike or walk in a new park.  
• Try a Pilates class at that boutique studio you've wanted to visit.  
• Take your journal and stretch mat for a few hours at a park.  
• Of course, a massage from your favorite massage therapist is "practically" mandatory for a spa weekend.

Enjoy next weekend at your personal in-town spa.